Lin Jarvis to step down as Yamaha MotoGP team boss at the end of 2024

Jarvis is 66 years old and has been at the helm of Yamaha’s racing division for 26 years.

As Yamaha team boss, the Briton played a very important role in the resurrection of the company in the mid-2000s.

Together with Davide Brivio, he was able to convince Valentino Rossi to join the project in 2004 when the Italian was already a three-time champion with Honda.

With Rossi, Yamaha took the title in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009, before entering the era of Jorge Lorenzo, who was crowned champion in 2010, 2012 and 2015.

After a period of dominance for Marc Marquez and Honda – six titles out of a possible seven between 2013 and 2019 – Fabio Quartararo regained the crown for Yamaha in 2021.

There have been a total of eight world titles won by Yamaha under Jarvis.

One of the Briton’s latest contributions was to seal the renewal of Quartararo, announced last week, to a new two-year deal.

Fabio Quartararo, Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Factory Racing

Fabio Quartararo, Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Yamaha

Next on his agenda is to strike a deal with one of the independent teams, to regain the satellite structure that Yamaha gave up after not renewing its deal with RNF for 2023.

“This will be my last season at Yamaha, I will quit at the end of the year,” Jarvis told Autosport in an exclusive interview on Thursday at the Americas Grand Prix.

“I will decide later what I’m going to do, what I will dedicate my time to.”

“I started the factory team in 1999. It has been an unusually long period. I’m 66 years old now and I’m starting to get a little tired of travelling.

“I’ve been doing this for 26 years, and it’s quite extraordinary for the same person to lead a project, in a factory, for such a long period.

“The time has come to do something new.

“It’s the ideal time to make this transition. We have to be able to close my chapter and start the new one, in harmony. That is the best solution for both parties.

“We have already identified the candidate who will most likely become my successor, although it has not yet been made official.

“But it will be a man from the Yamaha group, who will take over my position in January next year.”

Despite not wanting to reveal the name of his replacement, Autosport understands that the ideal candidate in the eyes of the brand’s executive committee is Paolo Pavessio, currently marketing and racing department director for Yamaha Europe.

The Italian is closely linked to racing and is a regular at WorldSBK and motocross events for Yamaha.